Senior Hamas official’s health deteriorating in Saudi jail: NGO

The health condition of a high-ranking official of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, who is currently being held at a detention center in Saudi Arabia has reportedly deteriorated as his family, his group and Amnesty International have called on King Salman to order his immediate release.

The Prisoners of Conscience, an independent non-governmental organization advocating human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page that Hani, the son of the 81-year-old Mohammed al-Khudari, has been moved to his father’s prison cell amid the latter’s signs of worsening health and his inability to move.

Mai al-Khudari, in press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center on April 15, called on the Saudi monarch and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to swiftly free his father and brother, and send them back to Palestine.

“My father and brother are innocent, and we call on Saudi Arabia to take quick steps to pardon them and other Palestinians who were arrested with no guilt,” she said.

She also expressed her family’s great concern over the health condition and the lives of her brother, especially in light of the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus.

Back on April 4, Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia's King Salman to order the immediate release of the distinguished Hamas figure and his son, citing his poor health condition amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Given the current COVID-19 pandemic and Dr. Mohammed al-Khudari’s poor health, I urge you to secure his release without delay. I also call on you to ensure these unfounded charges against Dr. Mohammed al-Khudari and Dr. Hani al-Khudari are dropped and that they are released,” Amnesty said in a letter to the Saudi monarch at the time.

The human rights group further noted that Dr. Khudari and his son were brought before the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in the capital Riyadh on March 8 as part of a mass trial of 68 individuals on trumped-up charges under the so-called counter-terror law. 

ME